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Darke Talks USMNT, MLS And More

By: Adam Jardy

The Columbus Dispatch - September 07, 2013 11:51 AM

Three days before he calls the USA-Mexico game live from Crew Stadium, I caught up with ESPN’s
Ian Darke for a phone interview this morning from his home in London. Less than 12 hours had passed
since the United States’ 3-1 loss to Costa Rica and Mexico’s 2-1 loss to Honduras, the latter of
which cost coach Jose Manuel de la Torre his job.

Needless to say, Darke was still trying to process all the events from Friday night.

“It’s going to be quite a struggle to think what USA team (Jurgen) Klinsmann will put on the
field,” he said. “I don’t know how bad that (Michael) Bradley injury is, but I’m guessing he’s not
going to be fit for Tuesday.”

Here’s what else Darke had to say.

Q: What do you make of Tuesday’s game given what happened last night?A: Mexico are now in a desperate position. They’ll either be like cornered tigers or they’re
really not that good and the table isn’t lying and their confidence is shot to bits. We’ll find out
what they’ve got and what character they’ve got on Tuesday night because they really are on a hole
now. Two of their last three games are at the United States and Costa Rica and they haven’t gotten
a winner in four games in Azteca.

Here’s the question about Mexico: The assumption so far is that they’ve been underachieving.
Maybe they haven’t. Maybe this is as good as they are. The whole match is piled high with subplots.
I’m sure the game’s a sellout and because Columbus is obviously a hotbed for soccer, they could’ve
sold the stadium twice.

Q: Does Columbus remind you of any cities in the Premier League?A: There are a few places in the United States – Seattle now obviously and maybe Kansas City
too – where there is a Premier League-style kind of feel and vibe and atmosphere. It’s the reason
the United States have chosen to play the most important home games in the World Cup qualifying
cycle in Columbus. It’s a tribute to the city and the players themselves, I know are sitting in the
locker room saying, ‘This is the right place to be for games like this.’

Plus, geographically it’s difficult for it to be one of those stadiums in the United States
where the Mexicans outnumber the Americans.

Q: How have you seen soccer grow in the United States during your career?A: I did the World Cup as a freelancer for ESPN back in 1994 and back then producers were
telling me things like, ‘Explain the offsides rule.’ There seemed to be a criticism of the game
because it wasn’t ending six-all. People didn’t really understand it. The big change has been a
whole generation of kids has gronw up playing the game and therefore understanding it a lot better.
TV ratings, they’re not going through the roof but there’s been a very significant increase in TV
ratings. For instance, we did the Confederations Cup in the summer and the ratings were about 25
percent more than they had been four years previously when the U.S. had gone to the final. This
last time the U.S. wasn’t even in it.

There’s no telling where it will end. I don’t think it will challenge the big, major,
established sports in America but I think it’s getting significantly bigger than it’s ever been. I
think there was a time when NBC wouldn’t touch the game and maybe one or two other networks felt
the same and it could go on in its own little sort of broadcasting ghetto. Now I think there’s
going to be quite a scramble for rights, particularly when the next Champions League rights come up
for grabs.

Q: Along those lines, how important could Major League Soccer’s next television deal be for
the league?A: Major League Soccer is a success story. It’s still quite an infant, but it’s something
like the seventh-best attended league in the world. It’s quite a healthy place. The fact that
Landon Donovan just signed a deal to stay in the U.S. and that Clint Dempsey still in the peak of
his career has gone to Seattle, those are both feathers in the caps of MLS. I only see it getting
bigger. I think the one small problem is so many people in America are watching the top European
leagues more now that MLS maybe still sometimes suffers by comparison and finds it hard to pull
ratings on that basis. I could see that changing over the next 10 years and MLS growing to be quite
a big player in its own right.

Q: What do you think about the MLS product on the field?A: Because I’m based in Britain I don’t see as much of it as I’d like to. It’s hard to come
with hard and fast judgments. From what I do see, there have been significant improvements.

Q: Years later, what sticks out in your mind now about when Sky Sports purchased the rights
to the Premier League?A: The interesting thing was there that the actual figures in terms of how much television
was paying for the Premier League went through the roof. It was a big shock when Sky Sports bought
it. I thought we were under a lot of pressure as a new broadcasting team covering it because there
was almost some resentment that it had gone from being on the main terrestrial channels to a
satellite channel. I think everyone was waiting with knives pulled out to thrust into our backs if
we’d got it wrong, but we didn’t get it wrong. I think quite quickly people saw this is better
coverage of the games. There are more cameras, the analysis is better, the whole package is better.
The first few months were quite pressure-filled to cover like that but it quickly established
itself.

It was a different league back then. Nearly all the players were British. I think there were
only 11 or 12 foreign players.

Q: Do you have a favorite stadium in which to call a match?A: I like covering games at Arsenal because you tend to be a bit selfish as commentators and
you tend to like the stadiums where you’ve got the best position to call the game from. Arsenal’s
great, Manchester United’s great, Liverpool is great. You’re right on top of the pitch and there
are not too many excuses. It’s more difficult at Chelsea and Spurs because we’re perched very high
in the stadium. You almost sometimes feel like you’re in a Boeing 747 flying high above it. Some of
the other stadiums in Europe are like that too. Barcelona and Soccer City, where they had the World
Cup final in 2010, that’s mighty high as well.

Q: Since you mentioned Arsenal, are you a fan of the classic “Fever Pitch” by Nick
Hornby?A: I read it. It was a long, long time ago but he’s such a good writer and he captured the
essence of football fandom and the agonies we all go through.